tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post115883440892696531..comments2023-07-04T22:09:51.208+08:00Comments on Tropic Temper: Here, catch an eyeball!Glenda Larkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10113271268122909969noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158981639266971712006-09-23T11:20:00.000+08:002006-09-23T11:20:00.000+08:00"He decided to study the floor for a while.""He su..."He decided to study the floor for a while."<BR/><BR/>"He suddenly became very interested in the dirt near his feet."<BR/><BR/>How about those LOL :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158926722988963442006-09-22T20:05:00.000+08:002006-09-22T20:05:00.000+08:00:-D , Kendall!:-D , Kendall!Glenda Larkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10113271268122909969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158904839108893122006-09-22T14:00:00.000+08:002006-09-22T14:00:00.000+08:00Of course, "he dropped his gaze" can be poked fun ...Of course, "he dropped his gaze" can be poked fun at the same way. A gaze isn't tangible...talk about an impossibility.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, as a counterpoint to what Karen said, most people I know are much more apt to make fun of things in conversation that they wouldn't think twice about in print, the total opposite of what Karen describes.<BR/><BR/>For example, whenever a certain friend of mine hears the phrase "night falls" or "night fell" in our gaming group, he says, "Thud!" ;-) And yet he's just being silly in the context of our (frequently playful) group; he doesn't actually think it's a poor turn of phrase.<BR/><BR/>Of course, bad writing can make almost any sentence seem weird (not a problem for Glenda, of course).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158901301731453102006-09-22T13:01:00.000+08:002006-09-22T13:01:00.000+08:00That's it exactly, Simon. There are people out the...That's it exactly, Simon. There are people out there who will wince when they see "eyes" used like this, and I prefer it that readers don't wince (at least for grammatical/vocabulary reasons) when reading my books. So, even though I agree with Kendall and Russell, I will not drop the hero's eyes but drop "eyes" instead, even though I think it is an acceptable usage.<BR/><BR/>It's like using the word "kids" meaning children. Like the word "teenagers", it is thought to be modern American. Wrong. "Kids" got into print as early as the 16th century and was probably used orally much much earlier. <BR/><BR/>But I try not to use to because it jerks people out of my world into theirs.Glenda Larkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10113271268122909969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158883119059488232006-09-22T07:58:00.000+08:002006-09-22T07:58:00.000+08:00I use 'gaze' in print, even though I know what I m...I use 'gaze' in print, even though I know what I mean when I write 'eyes' instead.<BR/>Problem is, Thogs Masterclass will getcha if you put eyes.<BR/>It's up to you - can you handle the exposure and publicity of such a public ribbing?Simon Hayneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02660767551431793439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158871158153801192006-09-22T04:39:00.000+08:002006-09-22T04:39:00.000+08:00Wouldn't 'He lowered his eyes' be open to the same...Wouldn't 'He lowered his eyes' be open to the same criticism? Yet it's an accepted phrase, almost a cliche.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158859168468706012006-09-22T01:19:00.000+08:002006-09-22T01:19:00.000+08:00It's fine. "He dropped his eyes" is an idiom! Ta...It's fine. "He dropped his eyes" is an idiom! Taking literal meanings of individual words in an idiom (or metaphor) and stringing them together is the problem/fault of the overly literal (and/or mistakenly pedantic) reader, not the writer. (I think you've created a new pet peeve for me. ;-)<BR/><BR/>This is like the classic translation error where someone translates each word on its own to another language, instead of considering what the phrase means as a whole, in context, and then finding the best translation.<BR/><BR/>Books with no idioms, metaphors, or similes can be very dry reading....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066416.post-1158834696003941812006-09-21T18:31:00.000+08:002006-09-21T18:31:00.000+08:00Pah. Of course you can drop your eyes. In fact, ov...Pah. Of course you can drop your eyes. In fact, over time, you can drop your whole face.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com